Actress Sandhya Roy's tormentor arrested

TARAKESWAR: A middle-aged man, who first befriended and then duped Sandhya Roy, a leading actress of yesteryear, was arrested on Monday after nearly a year on the run.
The anticipatory bail plea of the accused, Manab Roy, had earlier been rejected by both Calcutta high court and Supreme Court. CID officers tracked him down through one of his 13 cellphones. The additional chief judicial magistrate's court has remanded him in 14 days' judicial custody.
Manab, a resident of Purasree at Bhadreswar who had a business in foreign liquor, first met Sandhya when she had gone to attend and perform at a Jagadddhatri Puja in Chandernagore.The actress, who visited the puja each year, met Manab again the next year and was touched by his "humble" behaviour.
Thereafter, Manab began frequenting Sandhya's home in MN Sen Lane. "You are like my mother," he would often tell the elderly actress. Once he had won her faith, Manab began to tell his tale of woe. He claimed his wife had cancer and he was hard pressed for money to fund the treatment.
When Manab pleaded for loan one day, saying his wife was critical and he needed money urgently, Sandhya gave him `7,36,681. In the next few months, Manab managed to extract `96,000 and `4,03,400, promising to return the money at the earliest. He became elusive thereafter.
Though he repaid a part of the money, a majority of it remained unpaid. On April 13, 2010, Sandhya filed a case of cheating against him with Bhadreswar police.
Investigating officers registered a case under the Negotiable Instruments Act when a cheque of over `7 lakh issued by him to the actress bounced.
With the threat of arrest looming large, Manab fled. His moves to get anticipatory bail were turned down by the high court and the apex court. He was finally tracked down to a relative's house in Nadia's Nakashipara.
Though the CID sought police custody, ADJM in-charge Amar Kishore Mahato granted a fortnight's judicial custody. Attempts by Manab's counsel to broker an out-of-court settlement was rejected by the public prosecutor.
The actress had starred in Bengali and Hindi movies like Kuheli', Manihar', Sriman Prithviraj', Baba Taraknath', Dadar Kirti', Ashani Sanket', Bandhan', Jaane-Anjaane' and Asli-Naqli'.